


La Vie Est Belle

by LdyFcknNoir



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alya Is A Barista, Chat Noir Draws, Discord Secret Santa, Established Relationship, F/M, From Evillistrator, Gabriel Agreste Is A Part Time Professor, Love Square Doesn't Exist, Marinette's never met Adrien Agreste before, One sided reveal, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 05:32:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17115368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LdyFcknNoir/pseuds/LdyFcknNoir
Summary: Chat Noir can't get enough of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, his girlfriend of five years. He decides to take up drawing because he can't keep himself from doodling Marinette all day. Marinette has never met Adrien Agreste, but he's about to rock her world in a big way...





	La Vie Est Belle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whimstories](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimstories/gifts).



> Whim! You set this challenge up early on in the Discord Secret Santa exchange, and I couldn't help but want to make you proud! I hope I did what you had in mind justice, it was a lot of fun coming up with the basis for this with the premises you set. You're awesome, and I hope you enjoy the BNHA reference I slid in there because why not, right?!

Marinette shifted in her seat by the window. She could feel the cold air seeping in through it, the coldness nipping at her cheeks even as she sat there still bundled up in her winter clothes. Paris had been turned into a winter wonderland, blinding white snow piled deep everywhere despite the feet tamping it down throughout the day.

 

Her pink gloved hands were wrapped around an oversized coffee mug with the words  _ Drink up, Grinches _ etched into it. The barista, a snarky girl named Alya who had worked there in the mornings for as long as Marinette had been coming to the homey coffee shop, always produced the most unique mugs for Marinette each time she came in. She had once asked about it and Alya had laughed and said, “Girl, you need a little humor in your life. No one should look as serious as you do all the time.”

 

Not that she was entirely wrong about that, either. Marinette enjoyed coming to the coffee shop because it was always cozy, never too crowded because it was so small large groups didn’t really gather there, and the ambience of it was always muted, as if the outside world couldn’t touch it. It was exactly the type of place you came to when you wanted to escape from the world. Marinette didn’t have a hard life, per se, but she did have pressures mounted on her that no one around her would understand. You see, Marinette had a secret. 

 

To the people in her life, she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, aspiring fashion designer working her way through her last semester of design college before being released out into the real world to make her mark upon the fashion industry. She was a homebody, often found locked away in her tiny apartment surrounded by errant sketchbook pages, piles of material, and sewing pin cushions that were literally  _ everywhere _ . But the real reason she needed the privacy of her own apartment, away from prying eyes, was something else entirely.

 

Sighing, she took another drink of her peppermint mocha. It was nearing noon, she really needed to go home to prepare for her afternoon class. But this was her last chance of the day to relax and just  _ be _ , so she found herself lingering at her window seat just a little while longer. It had absolutely nothing at all to do with the fact that this had been the first time she’d been able to spend time alone  _ all week _ either, thanks to a certain black cat superhero who had an uncanny ability of knowing exactly when she was home, often showing up less than ten minutes after she walked through her front door each evening. She didn’t mind, her partner (not that he knew that) held a special place in her heart after all these years. Since the first time he’d attempted to rescue her from Evillustrator, he’d kept in touch with her civilian identity, and she had grown to love everything that the general population didn’t get to see of their superhero.

 

He’d tried to reveal himself over the years, but she’d always shut him down. Not out of fear of knowing who it was under the mask, she’d given her heart to him years ago, but because she didn’t want to be a tool used to bring about his downfall. There’d never been another man in her life since Chat Noir had come bounding into it, and she didn’t really ever see that changing. But he still had no idea that she was his superhero partner of almost five years. Each time she thought she was ready, Hawk Moth would send out a particularly terrifying akuma that would get just a little too dangerous, hit just a little too close to home. Since Chat had her civilian identity wrapped around his fingers, he’d left their relationship in the suit as strictly professional. He’d still jump in the way of an attack for her, still was outrageously flirty, but he’d never attempted to go after her as anything other than his most trusted partner.

 

She wondered what it would’ve been like, if there had been anyone else in her life, that would’ve made her choose between a superhero boyfriend and a normal life one. She imagined there would be a lot of heartache involved, and it made her immensely glad that it didn’t turn out that way.

 

She glanced down at her phone as it dinged, her eyes widening as she saw what time it was, completely forgetting that she’d received a text. She had daydreamed about that ridiculous cat for almost 30 minutes! Now she barely had enough time to sprint straight to class. She stood up, chair screeching back as she started to throw all the items that were spread out on her table into her handbag. Her sketchbook kept getting caught on the side zipper, so she decided to just carry it in her arms so she didn’t waste any more time. It was a plain gray one, nearly brand new because she’d finally filled up her last one and the store she bought it at didn’t have any cute colors. But it did its job, which is to say it was paper and it held sketches, so she couldn’t complain. There was always next time.

 

She flung her hand out in a farewell greeting at the barista as she charged past towards the door. Before she could reach her hand out to push it open, however, it was yanked open by an outside source. Going too fast to stop, she barrelled through the open doorway, straight into a hard body. She bounced, bag flying in one direction, sketchbook in the other, her butt smacking into the cold wet ground just before the other body  _ landed on top of her _ . She wheezed, trying to pull air into her aching lungs after an elbow to her chest drove it all out. Her eyes crossed, and she had to close them for a moment to stop the world from spinning out of control.

 

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed were a pair of smaragdine eyes, staring down at her with swirling concern. She irrationally thought of Chat, with his bright green eyes that no amount of twinkling stars could ever compare to, but immediately discarded the thought as she took in the rest of the strangers appearance. Although he  _ did _ have a few similar looks to her Kitty, there was one big difference: the absence of black leather. To be fair though, this handsome stranger made the dark wash skinny jeans that clung tightly to long legs and white button down shirt that hung open over a simple black striped shirt look  _ good _ . He had tousled blonde hair that was fringed into his eyes, and a soft smile playing on his lips as he held his hand out to help her stand up.

 

“I am  _ so _ sorry, miss.”

 

“N- no no, the fault is mine! I was running too fast and I couldn’t stop! I’m so sorry!”

 

Marinette grasped the black gloved hand as he lifted her to her feet, the staring turning awkward as she just stood there in silence. He was staring silently back at her as well, probably waiting for her to leave so that he could enter the coffee shop without seeming rude. Marinette snapped out of her daze at the thought. For whatever reason, she felt like she  _ knew _ this man, but that was ludacris. They’d just met. She mentally shook herself and focused.

 

“I’m Marinette. I’m really sorry.” She ducked her head as she stuck out her hand and introduced herself. There was no point in rushing anymore, she was already going to be late to class. Despite their rough start, she was raised to be a polite person, and so she did her best to turn their experience around for the better.

 

“Hello Marinette, my name is Adrien.” His voice was deep, a low bass that warmed her more than the coffee she’d just spent two hours nursing. The way he spoke her name, like it was an intimate secret that only existed between the two of them, caused the blush that was already upon her cheeks to flame even higher. Her tongue felt heavy, and she knew she was staring once again, but she just couldn’t seem to get her thoughts in order as those eyes continued to shine down on her.

 

“Oh! I need to get going, I’m late for class! That was kind of the reason I was running in the first place, that and the fact that my professor is a total jerk that picks on anyone that’s late. And I already have a habit of bad luck coming up and making me late to his class, so I’ve really got to go. I don’t  _ want _ to go, but I have- “ Marinette cut herself off as she heard him chuckle.  _ Oh kawmi, I’m rambling again,  _ she thought to herself as she pressed her lips together to stop the flow of words. She watched as the skin around his eyes crinkled ever so slightly as he laughed, and suffered the intense urge to reach up and trace the lines with her fingers.  _ Wait, what? What the hell am I thinking? _

 

Marinette finally managed to break the strange hold those green eyes seemed to have over her, glancing each direction until she spotted her bag. She swooped down and picked it up, dusting snow off the sides of it and mentally praying that nothing inside had broken in its tumble to the ground. Her brows furrowed as she looked around for her sketchbook but didn’t immediately see it.

 

“Here, I think this belongs to you, correct?” And there was Adrien, his hands now holding out her slightly beat up new sketchbook. She took it gratefully, noticing that the top of the wire spine was straightened out, but crooked like it had been bent back into place repeatedly. That was odd, because she didn’t think that was a habit she had. Maybe it was an unconscious thing she did. Knowing her, there was no telling.

 

“Uh, thanks. I’m sorry I have to  _ hit and run _ ,” words tumbled out her mouth without permission once more.  _ Oh god did that really just come out of my mouth?? _ “but I’ve really gotta get to class! See ya around, uh, maybe!” Marinette waved as clutched her sketchbook to her chest and dashed off.

 

Adrien stood watching her as she wove through the foot traffic towards the university. He still had the small, secret smile on his face, but it was quickly blossoming into a full out grin. This was the first time he’d ever ran into Marinette in his civilian form that she knew of, and he couldn’t help the warmth that was spreading from his chest to the tips of his toes. Once her petite form was out of his line of sight, he started hunting around for his own items that were in his hands when they landed in an ungracious heap on the snowy sidewalk. He managed to locate his phone fairly easily, but he had to root around for the other thing he was holding. He finally managed to spy it underneath the door of the coffee shop. He opened the door and picked it up, grimacing as he noticed the front was bent up and the back soaked from the ground.

 

He stepped into the coffee shop to place his order. After standing by the counter until it was ready, smiling politely to the awestruck barista, he quickly made his way to the same table Marinette had been sitting at. He knew it was hers because he’d been across the street doing some window shopping about an hour ago when he’d caught sight of her sketching in her sketchbook and decided that he could absolutely waste an hour staring at her beautiful face as he doodled in his notebook. And so he had set up shop across the street, watching her as she watched the crowd go by with a whimsical look on her face. The owner had finally come over and asked if he was going to be purchasing anything else right when she must’ve gathered her stuff up. He had apologized and quickly left the store, deciding to go visit the coffee shop as a spur of the moment decision. Unfortunately, since he didn’t see exactly when Marinette go out of her chair, he misjudged whether she would still be there or not.

 

He’d avoided her in his civilian form. He knew her schedule like the back of his hand, knew exactly when she’d arrive home and give her enough time to get settled before making his nightly appearance on her balcony in his superhero form. So he’d  _ seen _ her in public plenty, but he’d never  _ interacted _ with her. Marinette was a very intelligent woman, he was scared that she would notice the similarities in himself and her superhero boyfriend, and so he’d stayed away just to be on the safe side. Plus, the temptation of touching her without having leather gloves between them would be too much for him. He knew his limitations. What sick irony it was that the one time they accidentally bumped into each other, he’d still be unable to feel her soft skin due to black leather gloves. Plagg’s bad luck was sure a pain sometimes.

 

He set his coffee, his phone, and his notebook down before taking a seat in the same chair she’d sat in. It felt slightly stalkerish, going to all this trouble to feel close to her, but it wasn’t like he’d been actively seeking her out. He’d just happened to be in the same area at the same time, and melancholy got the better of him, so here he sits. He didn’t have anything else to do today, his father was at some big conference in Milan with Nathalie, and Hawk Moth had been quiet for the week so far. No one in this world cared where he was at this moment, so why shouldn’t he be somewhere where he could feel in touch with the world?  _ His _ world?

 

He sipped his coffee after peeling off his gloves and slapping them down on to the table. His phone hadn’t made any noise since he’d left the shop, so he ignored it and reached for his gray wirebound notebook. 

 

He wasn’t normally in the habit of carrying a notebook, but lately he’d been feeling inspired to take up a new hobby. And if that new hobby was doodling pictures of Marinette into a notebook for him to moon over while he went about his day to day life, well, no one would blame him. Right?

 

Without really paying attention to what he was doing, he flipped his notebook open, grabbing a chunk of pages and sweeping them back until he was about in the middle of the notebook. He was searching for a particular drawing he’d been working on, eager to capture the way her cheeks were flushed during their brief conversation earlier. This particular drawing featured her likeness against the big picture window he himself was currently sitting next to. Adrien didn’t profess to be an artist, far from it in fact, but he couldn’t help that Marinette made him want to  _ create _ . And so he’d found an outlet for his inspiration in drawing. Specifically drawing the person that created the inspiration in the first place. He had tried some still lifes, but really couldn’t get into them. He wasn’t bad at drawing nature either, particularly butterflies. He didn’t know if this stemmed from freeing butterflies from evil intent for the past five years or some weird psychological obsession with them, and he didn’t dwell on it. It is what it is.

 

Zoning back into the task at hand, his heart nearly stopped as he finally focused on to the page he’d just flipped to. He knew immediately that there’d been some terrible mistake. His mind blanked out at his stared down in horror.

 

Instead of one of his sloppily drawn Marinette masterpieces, instead of his version of her making a snowman, her laughing out loud as she threw a snowball or her look as she created a new outfit, instead of any of those, there was something he’d never seen before. It was still a drawing, but it was certainly not something he’d ever think of creating. No, taking up the page was a sketch of a beautiful pink summer dress, complete with delicate lace overlay and a side by side close up of the detailing of the lace. There was even a list of possible stores that carried said described lace. Though it was a beautiful picture, his stomach knotted up just looking at it. 

 

Uh. Oh.

 

How could this have happened? Who could this notebook- Oh. Oh  _ no _ . Suddenly his mind was filled with a certain bluenette (when was it not?), and how her things had flown out of her grasp as she’d collided with him. He remembered picking up a gray notebook and handing it to her before she’d bolted away from him, not even  _ thinking _ that they could have the  _ exact same notebook _ . What were the odds of that?

 

He started to frantically flip through the pages, finding outfit after outfit, inspired piece after inspired piece. He didn’t know what to do. They were beautiful, sure, but he needed to get his notebook back, and _fast_. Preferably before Marinette opened it and found all the creepy drawings of herself in a complete strangers notebook. He could only imagine the thoughts that would run through her head as she looked at page after page of portraits of herself. _She’s going to be so freaked out, she’s never going to want anything to do with me again._ He had to get it back, and soon. But how to get it back?

 

It wouldn’t be unheard of for the son of a fashion mogul to show up to his father’s fashion course, he supposed. He could just show up, make small talk with everyone, and switch out the notebooks on the sly at some point during the class.  _ Ah, shit, he isn’t even there this week. Way to be totally useless to me yet again, Father. _ Adrien thought disgruntledly. So even if he wanted to just fess up and tell her they accidentally switched notebooks, he couldn’t. He shuddered to think what the look on her face would be as she flipped through it. Would she even let him near her once she had? No, he couldn’t show his civilian face to her again.

 

That really only left one option. He’d have to figure out some way to switch the notebooks back tonight when he visited her as Chat. He wasn’t sure exactly how he was going to make it happen, but he didn’t really see how he had a choice, either. Hopefully she would just chalk it up to some random universal occurrance, and move on without thinking terribly hard about it. There were so many different potential problems he could see going wrong, it was overwhelming. But, he wasn’t Chat Noir for nothing. He could improvise with the best of them.

 

_ She’s usually pretty relaxed when I hang out at her apartment now, I’m allowed to roam all over it without her, so maybe he’d just need to wait until she was in the other room before switching them back, _ he mused. It should be a pretty simple thing to do, a straightforward plan is often the best plan.

 

That decides that. Now the only thing he had left to do was sit here and ruminate on why he thought drawing something that leaves evidence was such a good idea. He dropped his head into his hands. He knew he should’ve gotten a drawing tablet. That way at least there would be less likely of a chance of some far out thing like  _ this _ happening. He shook his head violently. There is nothing he could do to change the past, so there was no use in worrying about things like that. 

 

He flipped to nearly the last page in the notebook, staring down at the blank page with pinched eyebrows. He really wanted to draw her from the close up interaction they’d had earlier, but he didn’t want….. Screw it, he needed to get some frustration out. He picked up his pencil and began to sketch, letting the repetitive motions carry away his stress as his world narrowed to just him and his rapidly developing candid of Marinette.

 

____________________________________ 

 

Marinette couldn’t make hide nor hair out of what happened to her day. It had started out normal enough. Morning class, followed by her break at the coffee shop. That’s when it all seemed to go wrong. Running into the handsome blonde man that looked at her so intimately, babbling her way ridiculously through nearly their entire encounter before bolting away like he was going to reach out and snatch her up. On top of that, she ran all the way to her class only to find out that her professor was at a conference and wouldn’t be there for any classes this entire week.  _ A little notice would’ve been nice, _ she grumbled to herself. 

 

Her thoughts strayed back to the blonde man, Adrien. If she’d known that her professor wasn’t there, she wouldn’t had been running out the door to get to class. They’d never had encountered each other. Or maybe they would’ve, and it would’ve been under a normal setting. She sighed. Her life was never dull, that was for sure. 

 

She would’ve enjoyed talking to him more, getting to know him. She could’ve also asked him why he had a dozen or more drawings of her in his notebook. Marinette hadn’t even noticed there was anything wrong until later that evening. When she’d gotten home after going all the way to the school for nothing, she’d set herself up in her sewing room to work on a few pieces that she’d been thinking about starting lately. But when she pulled out her sketchbook to flip through her various projects, she found something she hadn’t been expecting.

 

Herself.

 

Pages and pages of herself. The doodles weren’t half bad, certainly nothing like Nathaniel’s art, but she was amazed at the detail and sheer  _ amount _ of them. She didn’t know whether to be flattered or terrified, and so she settled on politely bemused. After trying to place what could’ve happened for longer than strictly necessary, the only thing she could figure is that she must’ve somehow gotten Adrien’s notebook by mistake in their exchange by the coffee shop. But she had no idea how to get the notebook back to him, or to get hers returned either. She had to figure out how to get hers back one way or another. Her sketchbook was like an extension of her being, it being missing felt like a phantom limb that she’d lost. Maybe Alya could help identify the man….

 

_ Tap tap tap. _

 

The customary three raps on the french doors leading towards her balcony let her know that her boyfriend had arrived. He was a little later than normal tonight, but she supposed that sometimes life threw him curve balls too. She knew that his patrol was over an hour ago, so he probably went back home to recharge his kwami before coming to see her. She and Tikki had long ago formulated a plan for when he was visiting, that way there was no chance of him accidentally coming across her while being there. She didn’t even reveal herself to Plagg, although it must’ve been torture for her to be in the same room as him and be unable to interact. Marinette felt bad for her, but it wasn’t her place to step in. 

 

She walked out into her small living room, crossing swiftly to let in the alley cat currently running his claws along the glass. She flung the doors open and brushed snow out of his unruly blonde hair, dusted it off of his shoulders, before bringing him in for a tight hug. After the odd day she’d had, even though Hawk Moth was still suspiciously quiet, she hadn’t realized how much she needed his presence to help ground her. He smelled the same he always did, like sunshine and spring and warm summer days. She’d always scoffed at cheesy romantic movies and novels that would include descriptions like that, but now that she was  _ living _ that story, she couldn’t get enough.

 

“Hey.” She smiled softly into his shoulder as she greeted him.

 

“Hey yourself. Did you miss me or something?” Chat’s voice was amused and still slightly breathless from the journey to her apartment.

 

“I always miss you.” Marinette pulled back to look him in the eyes, his soft expression always catching her off guard when they were like this. She reached up on her toes and pressed a kiss against the corner of his lips. “Always.”

 

She pulled back, keeping her hand in his, and walked back into the warmth of her apartment. Snow was pretty for looking at, but it wasn’t fun to stand in. And she was certain that leather didn’t help him retain any heat. He followed her silently, always quiet when they first get together, as if he’s in a dream that he doesn’t want to be disturbed from.

 

“I made you something special, Kitty, it’s in the kitchen.” She turned around and walked backwards as they traveled further into her small apartment, looking up at him with a smile and a teasing glint in her bluebell eyes.

 

“Ooooh, a treat for me? You spoil this Kitty, Princess.” Adrien looked excited, like it wasn’t a fairly regular occurrence for her to surprise him with some thoughtful gift or another. In truth, she did spoil him. She was always making him scarfs, hats, gloves, little gifts from her that he could carry into his civilian life. He had always treasured her giving nature as her partner, but to be the receiver of something special that she’d made for her significant other just gave him an entirely different feeling that he couldn’t name. She was what made his world spin, the only light in the darkness of the Agreste name. He cared for his partner, deeply, but Marinette had the ability to tear him down or lift him to the moon.

  
  
  


“Only this once, Kitty.” Marinette laughed, though they both knew that she was full of it. She loved giving him things as much as he loved receiving them. To change that would be changing a fundamental part of themselves for no reason at all.

 

“You made me  _ pain au chocolat _ ?! Mari, you didn’t have to do that!” Adrien swept her up into his arms, twirling her around before gently setting her feet back on the ground, but keeping her in his embrace. He looked down at her with intimate eyes, and a warm started to build in her chest. She smiled softly back up at him.

 

“I know I didn’t have to. But sometimes Kitty’s need to be rewarded for being good.” Marinette’s voice had dropped into a low tone, barely above a whisper as she looked into her boyfriend’s alluring green eyes. She brought her lips to his in a sweet but simple kiss.

 

This was not what Chat wanted. He pushed his tongue against her lips, demanding entry. She parted them instantly, sighing into his mouth as his tongue raced along hers. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss even more, delighting in the shiver that raced through her as he lifted his claws to glide along her sides. He nipped at her bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth gently before letting go. Revelling in the way her breathing hitched as he pressed his lips to hers once more in a chaste kiss before trailing his lips down to her jaw. He brushed them along her jaw, smiling when she tilted her head to give him better access.

 

“All this just for some pastries? I think I just found the way to your heart, Minou.” Her voice came out low and rough, she cleared it after she got done speaking.

 

He smiled softly at that. “No,  _ you’re _ my heart, Marinette. Everything you do is special to me.” Chat’s lips brushed against her neck as he spoke, the raised goosebumps along her skin not going unnoticed. He put the thoughts about the notebook situation out of his mind, content to just share these private moments with the one he loves. He wanted to forget that they’d never be able to have a real relationship, that they could only be like  _ this _ in the safety of her apartment.

 

His lips latched on to her delicate skin, sucking in a mark before moving further down her neck. She let out a soft moan as he continued to abuse her skin with teeth and tongue, her hands lifting to seat themselves firmly in his hair. She tugged on blonde locks gently, maneuvering his head this way and that, guiding his lips to the spots that drove her wild. She’d only ever had this with Chat. The suit wasn’t removable, so in their nearly five year relationship, this was all she ever got to feel of him. He’d offered to pleasure her so many times, until she’d turned him down enough to where he’d stopped asking. She wanted to, wanted  _ him _ to, but it wasn’t fair to him. There would be no way to reciprocate, and she didn’t feel comfortable not being able to return the favor. He’d respected her wishes immediately, once she’d explained that the rejection wasn’t because she didn’t  _ want _ to, but because she wanted it  _ all. _ Most of the time it didn’t bother them much, their relationship was built on a lot more than just physical attraction.

 

So both of them waited.

 

Neither of them were sure what they were waiting  _ for _ exactly. Just something that would change the game, something to shift them off the precipice they’d been balancing on for so long now that would free them to be able to finally love each other in all sides of the mask.

 

Marinette idly wondered sometimes if he would be disappointed when he found out who it was behind his partner’s mask, but she always snorted at that. How could he love her civilian form so much but be disappointed by the same person just wearing a mask? That was just silly.

 

As for her, she knew that she would love him outside of the mask because he was  _ the same person no matter what _ . He loved her, and she loved him. When their reveal finally came, it would be the most liberating thing in her life. She would finally be able to freely love him, whenever and however she wanted to. It would be a heady feeling, to know that they could go out and do whatever they wanted to, just like a real couple. He’d taken her on dates as Chat, but they found it harder and harder to find places that would respect their privacy during the dates. So now mostly their dates consisted of making food together in her tiny kitchen or ordering in and binge watched animes as the came on Netflix. She loved her life, and her boyfriend, and she wouldn’t do a damn thing to change it. Speaking of animes on Netflix...

 

“You should eat before it gets cold. The newest season of  _ My Hero Academia _ just hit Netflix and I heard it’s the best thing since Dadzawa became a  _ thing _ . We wouldn’t want to be left in the dark.” Marinette breathed out in an attempt to regain control of both their evening and her breathing. 

 

Chat huffed into her neck, not fooled at all by her attempts at redirection. He pulled back with a playful smile plastered on his face. “But I’m having so much fun right here, Princess.” If it was up to him, he’d kiss her forever. To him, there was no better feeling in the world than being wrapped up in Marinette’s arms. He hadn’t felt the kind of love she just seemed to  _ exude _ from her person since his mom passed away when he was 10. But he pulled away anyways, knowing it was rude to ignore the fact that she’d spent the time to make the pastries for him. “At least come split them with me.”

 

She smiled up at him lovingly before nodding and grabbing his hand once more to tug him the rest of the way to their destination. He sat at the table as she grabbed the pastries and put them on a festive platter before bringing them over to sit on the table. “Want some milk, Kitty Kitty?”

 

He purred at her, “You know I do.”

 

She walked over to the fridge and poured them each a glass of milk before setting them down at the table and taking the chair opposite him. Silence settled around them for a moment as they got situated into their seats.

 

“So how was your day today?” Chat asked as he took a big bite of pastry, his eyes rolling back in his head as the taste exploded into his mouth. Dating the daughter of bakery owners definitely had its perks.

 

“Oh, umm… Interesting? I don’t know how to explain it, it was weird. Not like,  _ bad _ weird, or anything. Although, I guess maybe it could be seen like that...” She fiddled with her napkin as she spoke, keeping her eyes upon the rapidly shredding napkin before finally glancing up with an almost comically confused look on her face.

 

She was so adorable. He wanted to scream, to kiss her, to let everyone that she was  _ his _ . But for now he settled on keeping his expression politely amused and just saying, “Oh? Did you want to talk about it? Did something bad happen?” Alarm bells were blaring in his head, but he couldn’t see a way to divert the conversation without it being totally obvious.

 

“No, not bad. Just… weird. I was at the coffee shop today, the one I normally go and sit in between classes, and everything was fine," she totally omitted the part where she was thinking of  _ him _ and therefore made herself late to class due to her daydreaming, “I ran into this guy. Like, literally  _ ran _ into him. Going full throttle. I was concentrating on getting to class because I was late- Don’t make that face at me!” She interrupted herself and glared at her boyfriend, who just held up his hands with a laugh. “And he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I suppose. I bowled him completely over as he opened the door.”

 

“You  _ do _ have that effect on men, Princess.” Chat said with a wry smile. 

 

She gave him the most withering look she could summon before continuing. “I felt so bad afterwards too. Anyways, without missing a beat he helped me up. Even gathered up all my stuff and handed it to me so I wouldn’t have to dig around in the snow for it. I was seriously late for class by that point, so I just thanked him and left as quickly as possible.”

 

“Sounds rough, but what about that is weird? Except your propensity for falling down in  _ any _ situation?” Chat was trying to figure out how to direct the conversation to where he’d maybe get a little insight into his first impression as Adrien without making it completely obvious. It was kind of a backhanded tactic, but the thirst for knowledge on how she saw him was real. He wasn’t ashamed.

 

“I know, it doesn’t  _ sound _ weird. But, I dunno… I guess just the way he looked at me caught me off guard?” Her voice was unsure, soft and hesitant. She had dropped her eyes back to the table top and was chasing a crumb around on her plate.

 

“How do you mean?” Chat was starting to feel nervous. He slid his hand over to lay on top of hers, just letting her know that he was there, letting her draw strength from his presence. It was strange to hear his sweet, passionate girlfriend sound so  _ lost _ . Did he come off as a creep and not even realize it?! When her eyes found his, his heart skipped a beat.

 

“Something about the way he looked at me just felt… intimate. Like he’d known me all my life, and loved me more than anything in the world. That sounds so conceited, but in the moment I  _ believed _ that. It was such an intimate look that it made me uncomfortable and I started to panic. I mean, he seemed like a very nice young man for the all of three minutes I interacted with him, but I think the whole thing caught me off guard because the only person that’s ever looked at me like that is…. You.” She finished shyly, bluebell eyes shining with unshed tears.

 

Now Chat was starting to get seriously alarmed. He had no idea that he was being so expressive during their interaction outside of the coffee shop. Must’ve been something carried over from being Chat around her all the time. If they had another encounter when he was Adrien, he’d have to seriously pay attention to toning down the intense looks he gave her without realizing it, apparently. Trying to alleviate the tehse environment, he playfully cocked an eyebrow at her and leaned in close to whisper, “Should I be concerned, Princess?”

 

To his immense relief, her face melted into smile immediately and the playful twinkle came back into her eyes.

 

She slapped his arm lightly. “Of course not, you alley cat! There’s only one man in my life, and he has leather ears and a tail. Although… He seemed like he  _ could _ be my type. Tall, blonde, handsome. Maybe you  _ do _ have some competition, Chat.” She appraised him, jokingly raking her eyes from the tips of his twitching ears southward. Her finger tapped lightly against her lip as she considered. He decided to swing things back around to the matter at hand by suggesting a change of scenery.

 

“Sounds like there’s even more to this riveting story that we haven’t touched upon yet. Why don’t we move to the couch now that we’re done eating? We can get comfortable and talk about it all before we  _ Netflix and chill _ for the rest of the night. Sound like a plan?” Chat looked at her expectantly. A small niggle of emotion worked its way into his stomach. He knew, logically, that they were talking about him, but she didn’t know that.

 

She nodded and they spent the next several minutes in silence as they gathered their dishes and took them to the sink. Marinette quickly washed their dishes off and Chat dried them before placing everything back into their proper spots. Chat led the way into the living room, leaving the TV off for the moment but moving the remote to the arm of the couch. He snagged the pink-and-grey chevron patterned blanket that always laid across the back of Marinette’s couch and wrapped it around his shoulders before opening it with a silent invitation for Marinette to join him.

 

Without hesitation, she plopped down into his lap and leaned back as the blanket wrapped them both in its warmth. For a moment, they just sat in silence together. Marinette leaned her head back onto Chat’s shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her torso even tighter. She turned her head and stared into his green eyes as he stared back. Those eyes meant so many different things to her. Safety, first and foremost, love and admiration, pride and wit. Silly times as well as serious times.

 

She’d never really thought about how much they meant to her, or how differently it could all be coming from a different pair of green eyes. Her heart felt like it was in turmoil, and she couldn’t figure out  _ why. _ “Do you wanna hear the rest of it or are you ready to watch BNHA?” She couldn’t help the errant hope that he’d just drop everything and focus on the television, but wasn’t surprised when he answered back almost immediately.  

 

“Of course I want to hear the rest of it, Mari. Anything that has you this freaked out is something I want to know more about. I don’t want you to ever feel this confused about someone. Talk to me.” His voice was soft, and his eyes flicked downward as he adjusted his head to be to lean forward and press his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. 

 

“Alright…” she began again. “Anyways, so I get to class only to find out that my professor is at some convention and won’t be in class the rest of the week, so I rushed all that way for nothing. What kind of professor doesn’t send any notice to his students that he’s going to be out of town for an entire  _ week?”  _ She said indignantly.

 

_ The type that thinks he’s too important for trivial things like teaching the next generation of fashion designers, _ Chat thought to himself. It sounded exactly like something his father would do. He made a sympathetic noise and rubbed her back. 

 

She sighed happily at his ministrations. “I decided since the day was a bust by that point, that I’d just come back home and work on a new project. I got home and did a few things, and then sat in my sewing room for a while as I debated which project I wanted to start on. I decided to just let my sketchbook decide for me. I went to open my notebook up and noticed something really strange.”

 

_ Here we go….. _ Chat thought to himself. The time had finally come. He was about to have a front row seat to her freak out over his stalkerish tendencies. And then he’ll have to threaten bodily harm against himself to make her feel more protected, when all he really wanted to do was stand up and say, “Those are my sketches. I love you so much I can’t stop thinking about you, so I spend my days drawing you in an effort to have you close to me no matter where I am. Please don’t think I’m weird.”

 

But he held his tongue. It was still too early to judge how such a revelation would be received, especially since she seemed to be unsure of how to react herself. Barring the weirdness of the sheer number of drawings, he still wanted to see what she thought of the actual drawings themselves. He’d like to think that he’d come a long way since he first started sketching - not that she would be able to tell, those first drawings were safely tucked away in a separate, now full, notebook.

 

“ The notebook wasn’t mine. It was full of sketches of me, beautiful sketches of me. It creeped me out a little at first, because whoever did them obviously has been watching me for quite a while, but once I got past that and really  _ looked _ at them, I could see the talent and love that went into them.”

 

Chat’s heart soared. Just when he thought that Marinette couldn’t be any more of a perfect human being, she surprised him yet again. “So you liked them?” He tried to make the question casual, like he was merely amused instead of the pure elation that was pounding through him.

 

“I’d like to think I’m pretty good at spotting talent. While its obvious that whoever did them isn’t an  _ artist _ , they did draw each portrait with love and great detail.” Marinette’s voice had just a touch of mock haughtiness to it, but Chat decided to go at her from a different angle.

 

“So you have a secret admirer, huh? It’s looking more and more like I  _ should _ be worried.” Chat gave her a lopsided grin to take the bite out of his accusal.

 

“Um. I mean. No. I have a pretty good guess who it was that drew them, and I’ve never met the guy before today so I don’t think he’s going to come in and sweep me off my feet or anything.” Marinette blinked.

 

Alarm bells rang in Chat’s head again. “You- you know who it is that was drawing you?” His voice was shaky, and he strove to regulate it so his horror wasn’t immediately apparent. 

 

“Yeah. I mean - who else could it be?” She wore another awkward smile, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was saying herself. “Our notebooks must’ve gotten mixed up when we both tumbled to the ground. What’re the odds of that happening?” She laughed a little.

 

“So do you know his name? Maybe that’ll help you find him so you can get yours back. Unless you want to keep his notebook of creepy drawings…” Chat was wading into dangerous territory here. He didn’t want to seem too invested in her answer, or not surprised enough when his civilian name fell from her lips. He was kind of proud of her for deducing when the accidental switch occurred so quickly, but then again he always knew she was smart so he wasn’t terribly surprised.

 

“His name is Adrien. I don’t remember if he told me his last name or not.” Marinette answered almost instantly, causing her to flush and him to raise an eyebrow.

 

“Agreste.” Chat spoke without thinking, immediately filling in the rest of his civilian name without thinking.  _ Oops _ . 

 

“Uh… How did you know? Do you know him or something?” Marinette looked at Chat in surprise. She hadn’t even described what he looked like beyond just vague descriptors, how had Chat made that leap with such little information?

 

“NO! I mean, yes. Um, what I’m trying to say is that his name is Adrien Agreste, he’s a model for his father, Gabriel Agreste. Honestly I’m surprised you didn’t make the connection.”

 

“What….?! I didn’t- I didn’t recognize him! Of course I know who Gabriel Agreste’s son is! What kind of fashion designer, scratch that, what kind of  _ student _ would I be if I didn’t know my own professors line of work?!” Marinette stuttered and stumbled through her indignation, kind of thrown off guard by Chat’s casual reprimanding.

 

He mentally sighed in relief as she was totally diverted from his slip up. He couldn’t deny how happy it made him that she enjoyed his creepy obsessive drawing habit. His heart swelled at the thought alone. Maybe it would be okay to finally tell her… about it all. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but this could be the moment they’d been waiting for. 

 

“Can I see the drawings?” He hesitated only slightly before asking. If she said no, then he wouldn’t press her. But he kind of wanted to see her reactions as he slowly ( _ oh so slowly _ ) flipped through each page with her. Maybe they could speculate (well, it’d be speculating for  _ her _ , at least) about the artists intentions with each picture, or the inspiration behind them. He let his mind run away for a moment before zoning back into her as she answered.

 

“Sure. Hang on a moment, let me go get it.” Chat allowed the blanket to unwrap, letting it fall to the sides as she stood up and moved down the short hall to her sewing room. He chewed on his lip for a moment. This was working out even better than he’d hoped. He was going to have the notebook actually  _ in his hands _ again. Surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to switch the notebooks out once again because of how open she’d been with the whole situation. He wanted to tell her that it was him that drew them. He really did.

 

Switching out the notebooks had, at some point, become a sort of background, secondary, plan. 

 

She emerged from the room a moment later, notebook clutched in her hands as if it’d run away if she didn’t hold it as tightly as possible. She settled back down on his lap and he wrapped the blanket around them once more before hooking his chin over her shoulder. “Show me.”

 

They spent some time going through it, him delighting in each of her comments about his technique, or the way he paid attention to some particular detail. She was amused at how excited he seemed to be as they flipped through it, although it seemed kind of weird that he was so into looking at pictures another man drew of his girlfriend. In all honesty, that should’ve raised a lot more alarm bells in her head than it did.

 

As she found out exactly ten minutes later.

 

After they’d exhausted the subject, she got up to to put the notebook back on her desk in the sewing room so that they could watch a few episodes before Chat had to go back home. She hollered out that she was going to stop by the bedroom and change into her pajamas after she dropped it off, not thinking anything out of the ordinary when Chat just shouted back his okay. She went to the bedroom, but remembered that the pajamas she wanted to wear were actually still in the laundry basket by the door from when she did laundry earlier in the day. She stepped back out into the hallway and noticed that Chat was moving towards the sewing room. This finally raised a flag. She crept quietly after him, wondering what his obsession with the notebook was. 

 

He turned into the room and she waited out in the hallway for a moment to give him time to cross the room and get it in his hands before she would make her appearance. It was time to get some answers. She closed her eyes for a moment, unable to shake the sense of foreboding creeping through her system.

 

She missed the green flash that shocked through the dark sewing room.

 

After taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and walked the last few steps down the hallway. She turned into the room concentrated on creeping up behind Chat without making a sound.

 

In fact, she was concentrating so hard on being quiet, she totally missed the fact that the back she was creeping toward was no longer clad in black leather. A crisp white overshirt moved slightly as Chat turned the page blissfully unaware of the presence behind him. She stood immediately behind him and wrapped a hand around his arm to yank him bodily around to face her.

 

Chat’s scream ran through the room like a gunshot, his voice pitched high as he yelled out in surprise, “I’m not stalking you, not  _ exactly _ , it’s just that I accidentally handed you my notebook at the coffee shop and I was waiting for the right moment to steal it back before you saw the doodles I did of you but I couldn’t figure out how to without you being suspicious. I’m  _ so _ \- “

 

“Adrien?!  _ You’re _ Chat Noir?!?!”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed this, and head on over to [Whimstories](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimstories/pseuds/whimstories) and check out her stuff!


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